Men’s Tennis Falls to NCAA Division II Foe Franklin Pierce 8-1
QUINCY, Mass.- The reigning GNAC champion Eastern Nazarene College men's tennis team dropped an 8-1 decision to NCAA Division II side Franklin Pierce Wednesday afternoon at the ENC Tennis Courts.
The Lions move to 0-2 on the year with the result while the Ravens improve to 1-0 overall with the win.
The visitors snagged a 3-0 advantage after sweeping the three doubles matches.
Alex Partyka (Moscow, Russia) and Henry Siercke (Hamburg, Germany) suffered an 8-4 setback at the top spot against Yuval Barak and Preston Gordon.
Diego Rodriguez (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) and Mecena Salles (Maraba, Brazil) fell to Nkrumah Patrick and Alejandro Ortiz at the second position 8-5.
Julius Opaschowski (Hamburg, Germany) and Alberto Escobar (Sevilla, Spain) endured an 8-6 setback to Joshua Arnold and Paul McLellan at the No. 3 slot.
Franklin Pierce netted five wins in singles play to secure its first victory of the year.
Rodriguez recorded the Lions' lone singles win on the day, prevailing at the No. 4 position 7-6, 6-2 over McLellan.
Siercke fell in a third-set super-tiebreaker at the top slot in a closely-contested match. After Siercke claimed the first set 7-6, Gordon battled back to capture the second frame 7-6. In the super-tiebreaker, Gordon outlasted Siercke 10-8.
Salles dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision at the No. 2 spot to Barak while Escobar suffered a 6-3, 6-0 setback to Patrick at the No. 3 position.
Kyle Pierson (Redding, Calif.) absorbed a 6-1, 6-4 loss in the fifth singles match and Sven Grunenwald (Winden, Germany) fell 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 6 slot to Joel Cladera.
Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene travels to Babson October 1.